| Ben Kinsella | |
| Birth Date: | 27 October 1991 |
| Birth Place: | Islington, London, England |
| Death Place: | Islington, London, England |
| Death Cause: | Stab wounds |
| Restingplace: | St Pancras and Islington Cemetery |
| Known For: | Murder victim |
| Education: | 10 GCSEs |
| Parents: | George and Deborah Kinsella |
| Relatives: | Brooke Kinsella (half-sister) |
Ben Michael Kinsella (27 October 1991 – 29 June 2008) was a 16-year-old student at Holloway School[1] who was stabbed to death in an attack by three men in June 2008 in Islington.[2] [3] The significant media attention around his murder (the 17th stabbing death of a teenager in London during 2008)[4] led to a series of anti-knife crime demonstrations, a raised profile for the government's anti-knife crime maxim "Operation Blunt 2" and a review of UK knife crime sentencing laws.[5]
Kinsella was born to cab driver George Kinsella and his wife Deborah, a school secretary. He had a half-brother, three half-sisters and a younger full sister.[6] Like his older half-sister Brooke Kinsella, who played Kelly Taylor in the BBC soap opera EastEnders from 2001 to 2004, Kinsella had been involved in acting and he had a bit part as Tyrone Dooley in a 2004 episode of The Bill. He was a popular and academically gifted student. Friends spoke of his caring and comical nature, adding he was "full of energy" and that he was "the life and soul of his class".[7]
Before his death, Kinsella had become concerned about knife crime after being threatened whilst working part-time at Zebedee's Cafe in Islington, where he prevented the theft of a mountain bike. He wrote a letter to the Prime Minister Gordon Brown as part of his English GCSE coursework, urging him to stamp out knife crime and suggesting parenting classes, curfews and youth clubs as possible solutions.[8] The letter was later forwarded to Brown by his family. He had also written a creative writing piece in which he imagined his own death from stabbing.
In August 2008, it was reported that he had passed all of his GCSEs, receiving two grade A*, three As, four Bs and one C.[9]
As an aspiring graphic designer, Kinsella had also produced a design of the letter "K" that later became a symbol against knife violence and the logo of the Ben Kinsella Trust.
On 28 June 2008, Kinsella was out celebrating the end of his GCSE exams with friends in Shillibeers Brasserie Bar (now called 'The Depot N7'), North Road, London.[10] During this time, an altercation broke out between his friend Alfie and a man named Osman Ozdemir over the phrase "What are you looking at?" Having been separated by a door supervisor, a friend of Ozdemir, Jade Braithwaite, was heard saying phrases including "Tell your boy if he wants trouble, I've got my tool on me and it will open you up", "I'll stab people up",[11] "If you want it, I'll give it to you"[12] and "Don't you know who I am?".[13] Braithwaite was also said to be frequently motioning to the inside of his jeans as if he had a weapon. The altercation between Alfie and Ozdemir went outside the bar, where Ozdemir and another of Braithwaite's friends were glassed. Braithwaite and his friends subsequently fled the scene.
Shortly before 02:00 on 29 June, Kinsella and his friends decided to return home. When they noticed they were being followed his friends began to run. Kinsella, however, did not; it is thought because he knew he had nothing to do with the earlier disturbance. He then crossed over the road in order to distance himself.[14] He was then jointly cornered between two white vans by Braithwaite, Michael Alleyne and Juress Kika. As the three closed in on him he was heard pleading, "What are you coming over to me for? I haven't done anything." Moments later, Kinsella was kicked and punched to the ground, receiving 11 stab wounds to the chest and back in a period witnesses testified to be only a five-second duration. Two wounds entered his lungs (causing his lung to collapse) and another inflicted with such force that it went straight through his third rib, splitting it, before entering the top of his heart. His pulmonary artery had also been punctured and some of his wounds were nearly 70NaN0 deep.[15] His hands also suffered stab wounds, indicating that he tried to fend off the knives. CCTV footage showed Kinsella stagger from the scene where he was supported by his friend Louis, the son of Birds of a Feather actress Linda Robson.[16] Kinsella was pronounced dead at 07:24 as a result of blood loss from the numerous stab wounds.
After Kinsella's murder, an estimated 400 teenagers joined a demonstration to highlight concerns over the UK's growing knife crime culture. 16-year-old Brooke Dunford organised the event via Facebook; they marched from Islington Town Hall to the site of Kinsella's murder at the junction of North Road and York Way, passing by Shillibeers nightclub in silence. The crowd were heard chanting "What are we here for? Ben. Why are we here? No knives."
Kinsella's funeral was attended by around 1000 mourners including public figures such as Michelle Ryan, Gillian Taylforth and James Alexandrou.
The Kinsella family made numerous media appearances campaigning against knives and set up the Ben Kinsella Trust in memory of Ben to raise awareness of the effects of knife crime.[17]
The three men convicted of Kinsella's murder were:
Braithwaite of Bow, London, was aged 19 at the time of Kinsella's murder and 20 at the time of sentencing. With a height of 6'6",[18] Braithwaite had hoped to become a professional goalkeeper[19] and played in an Islington youth league until its closure when he was 14.[20] He had also worked as a coach at a local leisure centre. Prior to the murder, Braithwaite had a reprimand for possession of cannabis and was convicted of attempted theft of a laptop computer from a fellow teenager. He was given a one-year detention and training order in 2006 but during 2007 his sentence was cut on appeal to community service.
Alleyne, of Islington, London, was aged 18 both at the time of Kinsella's murder and at the time of sentencing. He had been released three months earlier from a young offender institution and was under the supervision of the council's youth offending team at the time of the murder. Alleyne had a criminal record including shoplifting, robbery, motor vehicle theft and drug dealing of crack cocaine and heroin.[21] Alleyne's electronic tag was removed just weeks prior to the attack. He had also previously been in custody for robbery of a mobile phone. He was also known to "terrorise" council estate tenants with his two Staffordshire Bull Terriers.[22] Alleyne is also alleged to have pulled a gun on a young member of his own gang.
Kika of Islington, London, was aged 18 at the time of Kinsella's murder and 19 at the time of sentencing by which time he had become a father. He was the son of a minicab driver and was mostly raised by his mother. He was first cautioned aged 11; the same year he stabbed 14-year-old Robert Parker in the back with a 3-inch blade before calmly walking away, although he was not prosecuted because of his age. Kika was on the run from police for a stabbing and robbery incident over a drugs argument nine days prior to the murder.[23] He had also received convictions for robbery, affray and obstructing a constable.[24]
Each was unemployed at the time of the murder and all have been alleged to have been involved in the same drug-dealing group named the Market Massiv'. A journalist investigating the group claimed Alleyne to be the gang's leader, with Braithwaite as an enforcer and Kika as a foot soldier. It is also claimed that the gang set up dogfights to gamble on. Conflicts also existed between them and another gang, which had pistol-whipped Alleyne.
The prosecution amassed a large amount of evidence that was used during the 7-week trial.
All three defendants were witnessed running together at Kinsella prior to the murder and later standing together shortly afterwards. Alleyne and Kika were then seen going to Alleyne's father's flat. This flat was raided by police shortly afterwards, but Alleyne and Kika had already walked through a police cordon[25] and fled to Alleyne's cousin's flat in Chadwell Heath where they were apprehended after running along rooftops.
Alleyne's father had originally indicated that Alleyne and Kika returned to the flat around 2:30a.m., but changed his statement six months later, claiming it was confused due to an injury he received during the raid itself. When giving testimony, Alleyne's father admitted that his son had said to him, "If it hadn't been for you, I wouldn't be in this mess". Several of Kinsella's friends also testified about Braithwaite's activities in Shillibeers nightclub.[26] [27] Alleyne's cousin Kellie later claimed that Alleyne and Kika had confessed the murder to her.[28]
The police never found the murder weapon or weapons involved. However, 72 spots of Kinsella's blood were later identified on a pair of Alleyne's jeans that he handed to his sister to dispose of, and traces were also found on Kika's belt. No forensic evidence was found in relation to Braithwaite; however, police found some of his clothes had been washed in bleach.
After handing himself in to the police, Braithwaite first claimed that he did not know either Alleyne or Kika. Later he claimed he had seen Alleyne stab Kinsella but he had not been involved himself. He stated that Alleyne had a reputation for using weapons and was concerned about the impact that telling the police would have upon his family. Both Alleyne and Kika answered "no comment" to all questions asked during their police interviews.
Aware that his cousin Kellie was going to give evidence against him, Alleyne wrote a threatening letter to her from jail, reading: